Austin is a bit more like gambling right now.

We are also military, and spent 16 years total in the UK, so we started where we were planted, and bought our first house in England. 

I get rental income on my UK properties but as I am a student I have zero income in the US.

Seize the equity now, but is it better to get a cheaper invesment property to make a ****** $200 a month with loan paydown in a poor neighborhood, or purchase another property I can afford in an area that does not take big hits in the down turn, and appreciates well. essentially I am gambling on appreciation.I am getting paid 3k a month this year alone in appreciation, it wont always be that way.

I don't recommend buying only to sell in a few year though, that's taking a gamble.

But you are still gambling on the criminal aspect if you can't find a resource from their country.

I have just arrived back in the USA after nine years living in the UK.

@Sarah SimpsonRTA is similar in most crown countries: CA, NZ, AU, UK, etc.I lived in Auckland NZ and renovated 5 properties and "lease 2 owned" 1 rental.RTA Residential  Tenancies Acts are all similar. :)

Hi all.I figure it's time to introduce myself, having lurked, watched several webinars and taken in 12 hours of BP Podcasts over the past month or so.Anyway, my name is Craig, I live near Manchester, England, and I have absolutely ZERO experience in Real Estate.However, having seen my uncle and his 2 sons do really well in RE, and having nothing in the way of a retirement plan/fund (and being 44), I figure it's time to get off my butt and come up with a plan.Having looked around, RE seems like the way to go but, like a lot of people, pretty much everything I have is tied up my home and , as we only moved to this property 2 years ago, we don't have a massive amount of equity in it yet.Therefore, I need to find out how much of what i am reading/hearing on BP actually applies to UK Real Estate for a start (obviously, things like the MLS don't exist here - at least not to my knowledge) and how I can start doing something in the next 1-2 years.I could go to my cousins for advice, but we've never been a particularly close family and I don't want to just turn up and start asking for handouts (any advice they give could potentially impact their own business, as they buy-to-rent in an area less than 10 miles from me).I would prefer to get in to buy-to-rent (or buy-and-hold as I believe it's called over there), as I have a full-time IT job, that I am not looking to give up any time soon.Also, if any other UK-based members have advice on the best way to deal with the banks, any specific rules/pitfalls over here, whether the auction is the only place to buy smaller, cheap properties that need rehab (every man and his dog seems to go there, though, thanks to programmes like Homes Under the Hammer).Anyway. 

Ive seen debates about whether to "gamble" with appreciation.